The He Family#

Surname: He, pronounced as “hé”

Distribution of the He Family#

• Chen Commandery: Established during the Qin Dynasty, it was renamed Huaiyang Kingdom in the Western Han Dynasty and then Chen Kingdom in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Its administrative center was Chen County (now Huaiyang, Henan). This branch of the He family rose to prominence during the Wei and Jin dynasties.
• Lujiang Commandery: During the Qin Dynasty, part of the Jiujiang Commandery was separated to form the Lujiang Commandery, which corresponded to the area north of the Yangtze River in present-day Lujiang, Anhui Province. This branch became prominent during the Southern Dynasties.
• Donghai Commandery: Established during the Qin Dynasty, its administrative center was Tancheng (now north of Tancheng, Shandong). This branch of the He family emerged as immigrants who moved south during the Southern Dynasties, approximately 200 years after the Lujiang branch.

Origins of the He Family#

The origin of the “He” surname can be traced to the following sources:

1. From the Ji surname: It evolved from the “Han” surname through phonetic changes. According to the “Yuanhe Xing Zuan,” King Cheng of Zhou granted his brother Yu the fief of Han. Yu’s descendant, King An of Han, originally lived in Han City (some say in present-day Hejin, Shanxi), but his kingdom was conquered by the Qin Dynasty. His descendants scattered in the Jianghuai region. In the local dialects of this area, the pronunciation of “Han” changed to “He,” and thus the surname “He” was established.
2. According to the “History of the Five Dynasties,” the Tuyuhun tribe also had members with the surname “He.” The “Tang Shu” records that the “He” surname was one of the “Nine Surnames of Zhaowu.” During the Sui and Tang dynasties, there was a kingdom called Kang north of the Qilian Mountains (present-day Linze, Gansu Province). After being defeated by the Xiongnu, its people migrated to Central Asia and established several small kingdoms, including An, Cao, He, Kang, Shi, Mi, Shi, Huoxun, and Wudi. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang, these kingdoms submitted to the Tang Dynasty, and the He family was among them.
3. During the Han Dynasty, there was a branch of the He family who originally belonged to the Zhu surname but adopted the He surname. This is mentioned in the “Han Shu: Five Elements Annals.” Their descendants became prominent families.
4. According to the “Lanzhou Prefecture Annals,” during the Yuan Dynasty, a Tibetan envoy named Suonan had a son named Suoming, who, during the Ming Dynasty, was granted the He surname by the Ming court.

Migration and Distribution

• In the Western Han Dynasty, there were He families in the Shu Commandery. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were He families in the Fufeng and Nanyang commanderies. In the Wei and Jin dynasties, there were He families in the Chen Commandery, indicating the presence of the He surname in Sichuan, Anhui, Shaanxi, and Henan.
• At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, some He families from the Central Plains migrated to Fujian, becoming one of the eight tribes that settled there during the Yongjia period.
• During the Tang Dynasty, there were two additional waves of migration from the Central Plains to Fujian: one under Emperor Gaozong, when a man named He Sihan from Gushi, Guangzhou, moved to Fujian with Chen Yuanguang; another under Emperor Xizong, when people from Gushi followed Wang Chao and Wang Shenzi.
• In the Southern Song Dynasty, He Tiji moved from Luoyang to Wenling and Xunjiang, later living in seclusion in Qingyuan Cave. During the Song Dynasty, another branch of the He family migrated from Lujiang to Fujian, Nanjing, and Jiangxi. By the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, some branches moved from Wuping through Xunwu, Dingnan, and Longnan to Wengyuan in Guangdong, and others to Dongjiaoling, Dapu, and Meixian in Guangdong.
• In the late Ming Dynasty, He Bin served as an interpreter for the Dutch in Taiwan, making him one of the earliest He family members to settle there.
• During the Qing Dynasty, many He families from Fujian migrated to Taiwan, and some further moved to Southeast Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Notable People with the He Surname

• He Xiangu: Her birth and death years are unknown. She is said to have been from Yongzhou (present-day Lingling, Hunan Province) during the Tang Dynasty and is one of the Eight Immortals, known for holding a lotus flower in her hand.
• He Jin: (Date of birth and death unknown) From Wan, Nanyang (present-day Nanyang, Henan) during the Eastern Han Dynasty. His courtesy name was Suigao. He gained power because his half-sister was the empress of Emperor Ling and was appointed as a general to suppress the Yellow Turban rebels. He was later harmed while plotting to eliminate the eunuchs.

These records provide a comprehensive overview of the history and distribution of the He family throughout China and its overseas migrations.